24 Growth of the Manor 



William the Conqueror first of all kept 1,420 manors to himself, 

 to his half-brother Robert, Count of Mortain, he gave 970 manors ; 

 to another half-brother Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, he gave 450 ; to 

 Alan, Earl of Brittany, 440 ; and to William de Warenne 298. 



Some idea of what -was produced from the land and how the 

 system worked may be gathered from the records of the abbeys 

 which were established about this time and later. It was not 

 only great military lords who were tenants-in-chief of the king. 

 The archbishops, bishops, and abbots held great estates, many 



In the centre a Mediaeval Harrow. A 15th-century wood-carving. 



of them on the same terms as the barons, on condition that they 

 provided and maintained so many fighting men. A great lord 

 like Alan of Brittany could move from one part of his estates to 

 another ; he could carry his retinue of men-at-arms, servants, 

 horses, hounds, and hawks, and live for weeks or months on one 

 manor, and call for the produce from others in the neighbourhood. 

 But the whole body of monks in an abbey could not move all over 

 their estates, and instead of going where the produce was they 

 had it sent to them. The manors sent their produce once or 

 several times a year to the monastery. The supply for a fortnight 

 sent to Ramsey Abbey was as follows : '12 quarters of ground 



